Tease? (Mavi)

Unprovoked Jealousy

"We still appreciate it!" I almost interrupted him, smiling way too much for such a little detail.

"So why did you guys want to meet us here anyway? You just kind of said 'come to Starbucks' this morning" Kevin questioned.

"We got you a little gift for the new place" Scott answered, lifting a small gift from behind him. I don't even know what it is, so hopefully they don't make me feel bad by thanking us both.

"Thank you! I'm not letting him open it until Christmas, it can be your gift to us, since it is only a few weeks away." Kevin said, looking over at Avi, who was reaching at the present with the most eager face imaginable. He's so damn cute sometimes.

"Why didn't we think of Christmas?" I exclaimed, looking at Scott whilst feigning confusion. "I still got you both something, I totally didn't associate this with the time of year, oops." I tried to seem overly generous and cocky about it in a joking way, but I think everyone could tell that I wasn't involved with the gift.

"Maybe Mitch didn't buy the gift with me and I just wanted to surprise you guys, but I definitely also forgot that Christmas was so soon. We started preparing for it like two months ago, and now that it's in a few weeks it doesn't feel close at all. It's weird." Scott informed them. "I hope you guys are okay with this from me" he concluded.

"Of course, of course! This is going to be a great gift, Scotty. I'm sure of it." Avi waved his hand dismissively, and I couldn't help but be charmed by his adorable demeanour. Scott somewhat blushed at this, and I felt another sudden rush of jealousy. I'm subconsciously being told to compete for Avi's attention, but I decide against it because I know that's definitely not a good look.

"Now that we got that out of the way, what's up? How have you guys been prepping for Christmas?" Scott directs the conversation as usual.

"I've actually been re-learning Christmas songs on cello so that I can play all our CDs and then my cello for my family in sequence, as a little montage of Christmas music for my family" Kevin replied. "Oh, and I'm practicing for tour right after Christmas, of course. Avi and I are getting some of the new set list transitions down pretty well. I like our plan of writing transitional jingles this time. 2017 is going to rock!" He finished with a fist pump that the three of us were too tired to respond to.

"I've been relaxing, catching up on TV, and listening to him practice cello endlessly as if he couldn't already play all these songs with ad-libs and all already." Avi added sarcastically. We all laughed a little too loud for before noon, especially my absolutely crushing self.

"That sounds rock and roll" I quipped, trying out one of Avi's catch phrases.

Kevin's phone beeped and vibrated audibly before he excused himself for a moment. We all exchanged knowing glances that could only say 'that's our Kevin, always working'. I took this time of silence to really look Avi up and down. The way he sat was casual, yet poised. His outfit was simple, yet elegant. His beard was cute, yet... no, it was just cute. And then I found his eyes. We made eye contact for what seemed like an eternity, and he seemed to notice my usual smile lingering for longer than it was supposed to. He smiled back at this, but I could tell that he was too adorably shy to bring it up in conversation.

"That was the triptyQ girls" Kevin returned and informed us. "I gotta go, last rehearsal of the year. We had to move it to today."

"Sorry guys, we came in one car, I've gotta get going too then." Avi added, smiling at me as he followed Kevin out the door. "See you soon!" He called when they were at the exit.

"Bye daddy" I called back awkwardly, not knowing if I should use that word in public. Actually, fuck what people hear, I can say what I want. I'm Mitch fucking Grassi.

"Are you okay?" Scott turns to me with the question. "You seem a little off today. You're acting aloof" he inquired.

"I'm doing well, actually. And since when did you use words like 'aloof'? Are you okay?" I tease back.

"Wow, don't come for me, I'm a dumb blond, I get it." Scott jokes in reply.

"We loves it." I state, feeling thankful that I dodged the subject.

Shortly after that, we head for the door with our drinks, wasting no time as we get into the car and blast the radio. It's a tradition for us to sing obnoxiously loud as we return from getting any sort of caffeine. Picture singing in the car with your friends, but with harmonies and runs in the middle of verses for comedic effect. We pull into the driveway and wait until I'm done jumping up an octave on the chorus of 'Since U been gone' by Kelly Clarkson before turning off the radio.

"This would be a good superfruit episode" Scott suggested as we walk into the house.

"Let's save it for 2017, it could be like a New Years special" I suggest instead.

"Sounds great, queen. What did we call each other this morning again?"

"I called you Samantha, and I think you called me Jennifer?" I question my response after wracking my brain for it. "Why?"

"Because that's what our names will be in the start of the episode!" Scott enthusiastically replied in a cheesy manner.

"Let's just record it now." I state matter-of-factly, knowing Scott would make the same suggestion so that he wouldn't forget the names.

And that we did.